22: Chapter 22 One Sword Opens the Heavenly Gate

"Inferior race, you are courting death!"

The Elf Legion centurion trembled all over, spewing harsh words while gripping the emerald horn and blowing it with all his might.

Zhao Xin lay down and pressed his ear against the ground. Before long, he sensed a distinct vibration from the due south direction, which seemed to be a response to the horn.

Zhao Xin gave Zhou Yanlie a look, and the latter nodded.

Zhou Yanlie stood up, crushed the centurion's skull with one foot, and said disdainfully, "Courting death? Heh, are you pieces of trash even worthy of saying that?"

Zhao Xin pointed to the forest ahead and said solemnly, "Everyone, advance due south. Handle any enemies you encounter on your own. There are many enemies in this forest, and there are plenty of contribution points to go around; do not let small matters affect the bigger picture."

As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of figures quickly climbed up the large trees and darted forward.

Zhou Yanlie did not linger either, leading the remaining cultivators as they rushed in the direction Zhao Xin had pointed.

When passing by the centurion's corpse, the young archer cultivator stopped.

He had noticed earlier that the longbow on the elf's back looked quite good.

He took down the emerald wooden bow from the centurion's back, tested the strength of the bowstring, and then slung it along with the quiver over his own back.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, an Elf Legion of a thousand men was stationed there.

"Report, Priestess. Centurion Ulind's squad has lost contact, and we have received an emergency signal from the emerald horn."

A tall female elf archer arrived at the legion's main camp and spoke respectfully to a female elf.

"I understand. Recall all other squads sent out for reconnaissance."

The priestess wore a grave expression as she said, "I have just received an oracle from the Mother of Nature. Immediately organize the entire army and march toward the direction of the horn sound. Respond to the will of the forest and bury all enemies who destroy nature beneath the swamp."

...

238 Virtual Divine Realm, Snowy Plateau.

Snow drifted, the cold wind bit, and the entire plateau was covered in a thick layer of snow; anyone walking into it could be buried alive.

Chen Jianfeng and Chu Gehang walked on the snow without leaving a single footprint behind them. Compared to their effortless grace, the cultivators who had teleported in with them appeared rather disheveled.

They struggled forward through the heavy snow, stepping deeply and shallowly, stumbling along; the prestige of the cultivators was completely gone at this moment.

Chen Jianfeng caught a snowflake with his finger and said, "This world is truly a good place for practicing sword techniques."

He flicked his finger, and the snowflake drifted away. If one were to look through a microscope, that snowflake would have been neatly cut in two.

Chu Gehang stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "Haha, I have heard that the great sword cultivators of the Snowy Region all like to practice sword techniques on mountain peaks, feeling the fierce winds in the valleys and battling against the blizzards."

"Thinking about it, it does have a unique charm."

Just then, on a nearby mountain peak, a snowstorm erupted with magnificent momentum and immense pressure.

Not long after, the snowstorm arrived before the group. After the wind and snow dissipated, the figures hidden within were revealed. Behind that massive snowstorm were hundreds of giant white bears clad in silver battle armor.

The armored giant bears stopped before the cultivators, emitting low roars from their mouths, as if they wanted to tear them into shreds and swallow them whole.

Chen Jianfeng and Chu Gehang came to the front of the group, eyeing the group of giant white bears before them.

"Eight hundred low-level demonic beasts, with strength roughly between the first and second levels of Qi Refining. There are another one hundred decent demonic beasts behind them, but they are only at the level of the fourth layer of Qi Refining."

"Hmm, there is also one at the seventh layer of Qi Refining; I reckon that one is the Bear King."

Chu Gehang opened his divine sense fully, and in a short while, he had figured out the bottom line of this group of armored giant bears.

The formation of armored giant bears parted, and a giant, black-furred, one-eyed battle bear approached the two.

The Bear King stood up; its eight-meter height appeared extremely imposing in front of this group of 1.8-meter-tall cultivators.

In the Bear King's eyes, these white-clad humans in front of it, who struggled even to walk through the snow, were not worth mentioning at all.

If not for the order to kill all living things given to them by the Beast King before they descended into this world, the Bear King would have been too lazy to pay attention to this group of weak humans.

The Bear King opened its large mouth and roared viciously, "Humans, tell me the location of your base camp, and I will give you a quick death."

Regarding the Bear King's threat, the cultivators present were full of disdain, but even more so, excitement.

They had been walking in this vast snowfield for nearly half an hour and had finally encountered enemies.

It was even a contribution point delivery; how could they not be excited?

"Elder Chu, will you do it, or shall I?" Chen Jianfeng asked.

Chu Gehang shook his head and smiled bitterly, "You go ahead. This Bear King is only at the seventh layer of Qi Refining; if I make a move, it would be bullying."

The "bullying" he spoke of was not bullying the Bear King in front of him, but rather bullying the fellow Daoists who had come with him.

He was now a Foundation Establishment Stage mage cultivator; any move he made would be a large-area spell bombardment, and this group of bears, with an average strength of the third layer of Qi Refining, could not withstand it at all.

The cultivators who came along wouldn't even be able to get a bite of the meat; wouldn't that be bullying?

"Fine, then I will only use one sword." Chen Jianfeng nodded, then slowly walked up to the Bear King.

The Bear King smiled disdainfully and got back down on the ground, assuming a combat stance, "Human, you have made the wrong choice."

Just then, majestic ice and snow magic surged from the bodies of the battle bears, and the snowstorm descended once again.

Seeing this monstrous snowstorm, Chen Jianfeng's eyes lit up, and he said pleasantly surprised, "Slashing through the snowstorm—it truly has a unique charm."

The next second, Chen Jianfeng's gaze turned sharp. Endless gengjin sword killing intent erupted from his body, and a golden longsword appeared behind him.

"gengjin sword, kill!"

As the words fell, Chen Jianfeng drew the longsword from behind him and slashed a golden sword qi forward.

"Swish!"

Before the Bear King could react, the gengjin sword qi slashed into its forehead, shot out from behind it, and collided directly with the forming snowstorm.

In an instant, the snowflakes in the air froze.

"Boom!"

The massive sword qi split the Bear King and the snowstorm behind it directly in two.

One sword opens the Heavenly Gate; the sky is clear for ten thousand miles, with no trace of snow!

Retracting the gengjin sword into his body, Chen Jianfeng didn't spare another glance and calmly turned around.

The Bear King's body was split in two and crashed heavily onto the snow.

"You all can split the rest. Elder Chu and I will go look around to see if there are other contribution points," Chen Jianfeng said.

As soon as he finished speaking, the cultivators present could no longer suppress the spiritual energy within them. Beams of spiritual light shot into the sky, directly blowing away the surrounding snow.

If what the armored battle bears had stirred up before was a snowstorm, then what these cultivators triggered was an avalanche.

Those who had been stumbling through the snow like grandmothers out for a stroll were now transformed into human tanks, charging toward the group of armored white bears with endless killing intent.